Pathfinder Manual: Edited by Reyes Vidal
by MoreOfAMellowYellow
Summary: Sara Ryder is trying to get a foothold on this whole new ‘Pathfinder’ thing... her uneasyness and lack of confidence is sure to change as she grows into her new job, but what about her ‘romantic’ entaglements? Will she allow them to grow in this new galaxy? Slowburn, future smut and domestic(ness) and of course blooming friendships! Enjoy!


**_Chapter one; You're gonna be nervous._**

Scraping and choking, sand rushed into her throat and that burning sensation that normally came with a cigarette on a cold morning blasted into her stomach as she felt the acidic air tear apart her body. The eyes matched hers, suddenly they were just inches from her face. She could see the rings of green and brown that looped around the solid black plant that hung in the center, flecks of gold and hazel drifted among the green like some kind of asteroid belt. " We dont have time for that…" the words were like a hollow promise, a death sentence that lacked the acceptance a young girl like ryder could understand. " What.. are you doing…" She knew they were her words, but she wasn't sure if she actually choked it out loud enough to hear or maybe she didn't say it at all because no answer was given. The hiss of the helmet and the smell of her father suddenly assaulted her senses as air once more returned to her body, there wasn't anything she could do but watch the figure choke and gasp out his final commands as the final look of desperation and… love appeared in her father's eyes, a sight that would be burned into Saras brain for the rest of her life.

 **" You're the Pathfinder now…"**

Sara lay in bed, ash grey hair skirted across her forehead the same green eyes she shared with her father looked up to the projected space above her and the steady beep of some machine in her room kept beat with her breathing. It wasn't supposed to be like this, Andromeda didn't need an unskilled pathfinder.. They needed someone _qualified_. They needed Alec, or Cora. These thoughts normally went unspoken, when they did bubble out by accident they were interrupted with rays of praise from her crew. " You can do it Ryder… Sara you got this!" thanks guys, but i really don't. She would say and the phrase would quiet them, because who would argue with the unknown, what if she didn't do it?

Her knuckles and toes seemed to flinch with life as the need to move washed over sleep deprived body and the Pathfinder pushed herself up from the mattress, her body springing to life as she haphazardly moved around the room. Getting her things together the best she could muster. They were currently orbiting EOS the sand coated planted spun below them and Ryder would bet the spike of nightmares was coming from its tan exterior as she headed for the bathroom.

Ellen Ryder was a big believer in showers, they were calming and peaceful. The steam would open your pores and rejuvenate the skin. Sara could remember the year she left for college and the packages that were sent, filled to the bring with stress relief lotion, mint and coffee scrubs.. They did help. The steam retreated out into the vents above her as she stepped from the shower, Ryder silently wished she could follow. Voices drifted through the door from the crew quarters and Sara found herself listening, eyes flickering across her tired face in the mirror. " Im worried about her… " It was Lexi, lexi was always worried. " Me too.." the second voice carried alarm, Cora. Sara and Cora had not been on great terms, the asari huntress took the passing of her father and the loss of her position hard. Sara couldn't blame her, she wanted Cora to be the path finder too. Wiping away the steam from the clouded mirror in front of her, Saras reflection stared back at her with tired eyes, she wasn't a stunner or perfect.. By a long shot. But she carried a simple sort of pretty in her features with good bone structure and emotional eyes. Her hair was dyed the color of ash and her roots darker than the rest. Freckles dotted the bridge of her nose and spread out across her cheeks, her nose was average.. Maybe a little crooked from when Scott broke it when they were kids. Her lips were supple but had grown chapped and slightly swollen from the constant chewing and biting her teeth would do, a trait she had picked up in grade school and never given up. A long faded scar stretched down the length of her nose and pooled slightly at the bottom, that had happened back on habitat seven and never failed to remind her. The rest of Sara was lean and littered with freckles and other scars, a tattoo sat below her collarbone. It was a snake that slithered just below the bone with scales made of intricate lines, she had always hoped for more but those hopes were pushed aside as more pressing things took hold of her life. Not soon after her mothers sickness and untimely death, the initiative rolled around and Sara was one of the first to crawl into a stasis pod. She couldn't give anyone a solid reason, nor herself. But she liked to think, late at night that she had solid reason for being so enthusiastic, but she didn't really even want to go to Andromeda… she just wanted to forget her mother's passing.. Forget everything that had happened in the last few years they spent there. It all fell apart when she decided she wanted to go, her long term boyfriend at the time refused and so Sara left that morning. Not realizing she would ever see him again until the door of the cryo-pod was closing. She had never been one for dating and letting people in, it was all so much work that the thought alone exhausted her, but that relationship was dead now and there was no use crying over spilled and dried milk… _six-hundred_ year old milk.


End file.
